Once filled with children’s laughter and hurried walks of people heading to work, Ukrainian streets are now abandoned.
Workers of all kinds have had to abandon their posts to flee their homes or, worse – to take up arms and defend their families.
Russia’s invasion has ground life as they knew it to a halt for millions of Ukrainians.
Outpourings of support from the search engine optimization and digital marketing industry abound as many companies and employees hail from the besieged country.
Tech is a $6.8 billion business in Ukraine; thousands of its 4.4 million residents work there.
This invasion hits very close to many of us, even here at Search Engine Journal, where the family of Loren Baker, SEJ’s Founder, is currently fighting to defend the people and the land of Ukraine.
The digital marketing and SEO community is a family. And when family members are hurting, we provide support in the best ways we know how. We will add updates and additional ways to help to this list.
Google Donating $15 Million & Fighting Disinformation
Google and its employees are donating a combined $15 million in money and in-kind support to aid relief.
The search giant will also donate $5 million advertising credits to humanitarian and intergovernmental organizations it considers trustworthy.
“In this extraordinary crisis, we are taking extraordinary measures to stop the spread of misinformation and disrupt disinformation campaigns online,” Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker wrote in a March 1 statement.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and take additional actions as needed — and we join the international community in expressing sincere hope for a return to a peaceful and sovereign Ukraine,” he added.
Google’s announcement also notes that YouTube channels from RT and Sputnik are now blocked across Europe.
Russian state-funded media have frozen their monetization options across all Google platforms, and RT is banned from advertising entirely.
Walker also notes that products like Google Pay may become unavailable in some countries as Google strives to comply with government sanctions.
Canceled Conference Event Donates $35,000
Organizer Christoph Cemper added, “We had speakers from Ukraine. LRTcon was headlined by some amazing speakers from Ukraine. We had guests from Ukraine. LRTcon was visited by many competent and nice people from Ukraine… I am very proud about being able to help to so quick and so big. And with this, the story of LRTcon ends.”
Conductor To Pay Salaries Of Drafted Employees To Family
Seth Besmertnik of Conductor updated LinkedIn on employee Oleksander Lytvyn, who was risking his life patrolling the streets while his family hunkers in a parking garage.
“Our Ukraine team has over and over proved to be loyal, dedicated, proud, and open to always getting better.” Besmertnik wrote.
The conductor saw the writing on the wall more than a month ago as Russia provoked and threatened the country, Besmertnik wrote. They provided assistance and incentives for their Ukrainian team to escape.
Half of them chose to flee, but the other half stayed.
The message team members in Ukraine every 12 hours offer monetary and other assistance.
“For those who have stayed, we let them know what if they get drafted, we will provide income to their families as long as they are in service,” Besmertnik wrote.
SERPstats Sends Blog Editor To Volunteer Journalists Initiative
All-in-one SEO platform SERPstat, based in Ukraine, tweeted on March 2 that Taras Prystatsky, its Blog Editor, had joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Journalists Initiative.
Today, the company tweeted:
WebCEO Donates over $150,000 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Fund
During the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the WebCEO team donated more than $150,000 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Fund. Since many WebCEO team members have connections with Ukraine, they keep on contributing to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Fund as well as several humanitarian funds that provide help to the civilian population of Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees abroad.
Since March 4, the WebCEO internet marketing platform has restricted access to its online services for Russian users.
SEJ Has Donated $10,000 to Help the Ukrainian Effort & Humanitarian Relief
The Search Engine Journal team has huddled together to donate to the UNICEF initiative for helping, feeding & clothing children in Ukraine and Ukraine’s Come Back Alive program. As we’ve stated throughout this post, this war hits very close to home both for us – on the family front and within the search marketing community. We’re here to help … and here are some more examples of how those in the SEO world are also helping our partners in Ukraine.
Hire a Ukrainian Remote Worker
Olesia Korobka has organized a makeshift database of Ukrainian SEO and digital marketing professionals currently looking for remote work.
SEO consultant Alexis Rylko has compiled a post of ‘Awesome SEO & Digital Marketing Tools Made In Ukraine’ for those who want to support the cause with their business.
Support Ukrainian Businesses
Julia Nesterets, CEO of crawler and log analyzer tool Jet Octopus, sent a tweet from her vehicle as she and her newborn baby delivered medical supplies, fundraised, and gave demos from the road as she works remotely:
Ahrefs’ CEO Dmitry Gerasimenko is Ukrainian and offered to double subscriptions of anyone that donates to organizations that support the peace in Ukraine.
If a person donates the amount of a six-month plan, Ahrefs will support them with an entire year of service.
SE Ranking has a message on its website supporting Ukraine and provides links to how people can help.
One points to HelpUkraineWin.org, a resource created by Tumblr’s head of product, Bohdan Kit. There, he shares a form for one-time or monthly donations, a list of ways to donate or volunteer in other ways, and a feed from #StandWithUkraine on Twitter.
SERanking’s head of content, Svetlana Shchehel, also an author at Search Engine Journal, recommends that people donate to Unicef to provide much-needed emergency relief for Ukrainian children.